Moving Forward
by XWaltzforVenusX
Summary: RyanTaylor. Part 4 in the Chino-verse. Everyone tries to move on with their lives, but old acquaintances show up to ruin it.
1. Chapter 1

__

Oh Chino-verse, my love, how I've missed you!

_A few notes about the story, and this chapter in particular. The story starts out (as stated in about three paragraphs) about seven months after 'Saints'. And since I felt kinda bad just… jumping through time like that, I decided to do flashbacks! Cause everyone loves a good flashback… It's pretty obvious when it's a flashback, but if anyone is confused, just ask._

_I'm not sure if people actually care about my musical inspiration, but here we go: the title is a song by Bitter:Sweet, off the album 'The Mating Game', but the story was written to the ablum 'Everything All the Time' by Band of Horses._

_I hope you all enjoy this, because I do so love my Chino-verse! Oh, and review!_

* * *

Taylor skipped up to the pool house door, entering without knocking like she always did. She figured if Seth got to do it, she should get to, too. And as his girlfriend, she could always placate him better than Seth _ever_ could…

She heard the water in the bathroom running, and placed her bag on the bar. "Ryan!" she called, "what are you doing today? Please tell me it's not another videogame marathon with Seth. I know, I know, you have that whole 'Super Bowl' thing going on, but if you keep playing that much, your eyes are going to wither and die." The water shut off, and she sat on the stool to wait for him.

The bright sunshine outside reflected her mood. She hadn't been this content in a really long time - _ten months_, her smartass brain kicked in, souring her mood a little. Ten months since that day he had left her. Seven months since he had come back. Three months since she had _taken_ him back. Two weeks since Summer forgave Seth. She forced herself to cheer up. Things were looking better; everyone was back with whom they belonged. A smile broke out across her face as she thought of Seth and Summer, and the way they couldn't keep their hands off each other since she came back from the airport, kissing him in the rain as he dangled from the roof.

She heard the door open. "Hey, I was thinking we could go to the…" she trailed off as a boy who was _definitely_ not Ryan walked out of the bathroom.

"_Trey?_"

* * *

(_Seven months earlier)_

_She wasn't sure if she should be proud of herself for walking away. Dr. James would surely praise her self-control, but her head wasn't so ok with it. She'd gone to Dr. James three weeks after he had left, needing something – someone – to make sense of everything. Sure, Summer was there to listen to her, as was Kirsten, but they were dealing with it all too. She needed an objective view; someone who would tell her what was what without any bias. _

_Dr. James listened to her. Dr. James counseled her. Dr. James told her she wasn't insane for missing him this much._

_Dr. James helped her realize her emotional addiction._

_She hadn't realized it until now. Her father moving away when she was so young and her emotionally distant, coked up mother had given her a desperate need for any affection, any support. She'd done it with Hunter – he was the one person at school who would talk to her in front of everyone else without being sarcastic and cruel. So she'd clung to him. At least she'd clung to him until they were caught going at it at a party, and the rumors started going around that she was a giant slut. He had become weird after that and suddenly he didn't seem like such a white knight anymore._

_Then _he _had come along, during her - admittedly poorly-thought-out - escape plan from her mother. She'd wound up – under the most ridiculous circumstances – staying with him. And it was the same thing as with Hunter – he'd do little things, like make sure she got home safely, or make her breakfast, or listen to her ramble with a little smile on his face, and she'd fallen for him because he was nice to her. Then he'd said something about how she wasn't annoying, and she'd jumped him out of sheer gratitude._

_Not exactly the healthiest thing ever._

_But he was different from Hunter. When the rumors started, he'd stuck by her. He hadn't ignored her, because he loved her. And she loved him. So when he left it was the worst day of her life. Worse than when her father left. Worse than when her mother first told her she had been an 'unfortunate accident' that should have been 'taken care of'. _

_And then he came back, and told her he wasn't going anywhere. He told her he'd wait for her; for her to regain her trust in him. Her heart immediately wanted to take him back, but Dr. James's voice rang in her head – 'you can't be in a strong relationship without having a strong relationship with yourself first'. So she let him know – silently – that he could try to win her back. But she wouldn't take him back yet, because first she needed to be alright with herself._

* * *

Ryan entered the kitchen from a different direction than normal; he was used to coming in the back door, not the living room. He wasn't used to sleeping in the guest bedroom. Guilt washed over him as he wondered how long Trey would be here. He was a terrible brother for wanting Trey gone as soon as possible, but he was afraid that two Atwoods in one place would cause some sort of nuclear explosion of drama and bad luck.

"Morning," Sandy called, looking up from his perfect schmear. "We should probably go see how Trey fared, don't you think?"

"Yeah," he tried to smile, but he wasn't really into the idea. Yesterday had been incredibly awkward. Trey had spent nearly two years in jail,while he had gotten a new family and his own 'cabana mansion', as Trey put it. But Sandy was already walking out the back door, heading for the pool house, and he had no other option but to follow.

"Hey look," Sandy grinned, pointing, "Taylor's here."

Shit.

* * *

(_Five months earlier)_

_Things were going well, he thought, readjusting the bags on his shoulder. She tried to protest – something about needing to be independent, or some other such bullshit – but he waved her off. He was happy to carry her schoolbag, even if it _was_ freakishly heavy. She giggled at him, swatting his arm and telling him that she _needed_ all those books. He grinned back, trying to resist the urge to drop the bags and kiss her. He hadn't kissed her in five months. That was way too long._

_Ok, yes, it was his fault, but still. She was beautiful when she smiled, and it made it hard to do this 'let's just try being friends' thing. Like he could ever just be friends with her. But he went along with it, because he knew how hard it was to trust people, especially after they betrayed you. Like back in Chino,when his dad had been acting nice, he had always been waiting for the inevitable outburst of anger and the resulting physical pain. He knew how she must be feeling – like this was one of his 'nice' times, and she was just waiting for him to pick up and leave again._

_He hated being that guy. He didn't want to be that guy. He wanted to be someone she could trust. So every time he got impatient, every time his control snapped and he tried too hard, all he had to do was see the uncertainty – the fear – flicker in her eyes and he'd back off._

_It had been five months since he'd left Newport, two months since he'd come back. He wondered how many more it would be until she trusted him to never hurt her again._

* * *

She stood in stunned silence as the boy paused, forehead crinkling. Then a look of recognition took over his features. "_Taylor_?"

"Oh… my… God… what are you doing here?" she looked around the pool house, waiting for a guy with a camera to jump out and tell her this was all a joke.

"I just got out of… what are _you_ doing here?" He looked equally as confused, cutting across the pool house to dig through a bag of stuff.

The door opened, andRyan and Sandy walked in, a huge grin taking over the older man's face. "Oh good, you two've met," Sandy spoke, looking between the stunned boy and girl. "Trey's gonna be staying with us for a while."

"Just until I can find my own place," Trey cut in, shooting a weird look at Ryan, which she didn't really feel like interpreting right now. When she looked at her boyfriend, he was frozen, and she could almost _see_ his brain working.

"Wow, that's… great," she breathed finally, pasting a smile onto her face. "But I just came over to see what Ryan was doing today, and obviously you'll be busy," she grabbed her purse off the counter hastily, brushing past Ryan and Sandy and heading out the door, "so I'll see you later."

_Oh my God…_ her brain was on overload. She hadn't seen Trey since Chino, and it was beyond weird. She still couldn't get over the fact that she had drunkenly kissed him… _please don't let him remember that…_

"Taylor," Ryan caught up to her halfway around the house. "Hey, look… I'm sorry I didn't tell you… it just happened so fast..." he shoved his hands into his pockets guiltily, and she sighed.

"Ryan, he's your _brother_. You did the right thing, letting him come here. I just… I kind of wish you'd warned me."

"Yeah. Sorry." He looked over his shoulder at the pool house, and Taylor saw that Sandy and Trey were watching them. "I… didn't tell him about you. I mean, we picked him up from jail, and then we drove him to Chino, but then we invited him back, and then he was getting settled in… there wasn't really a good time to say 'hey, remember that girl who came to stay with us back in Chino? Well, she's here and I'm dating her'. Kind of a long conversation I didn't want to have right away…"

"Ryan, you're rambling," she grinned at him, and his lips quirked into a smile. Usually that was his line: _Taylor, you're rambling._ "It's ok. But you _might_ have to explain it to him now, cause he looks curious," she nodded towards the pool house. "See, if you had warned me…"

"I'm _sorry_," he whined, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards him. She lifted an eyebrow as his hands slid around her waist.

"Now you'll _really_ have to talk to him," she murmured as she leaned up to kiss him. He nodded into the kiss, tapping her nose with his finger when they broke apart. "Call me later."

* * *

(_Three months earlier)_

_She watched the guilt, the panic, rise on his face, and sighed wearily. He started to ramble – something that was usually _her_ problem – about how there was nothing going on between him and Lindsay. She was just a friend, and she was upset over the whole Caleb situation…_

_She let another sigh escape her, and he shut his mouth tight, visibly swallowing around the fear in his throat. He was adorable when he felt guilty, and she told him that. He looked confused, and she laughed lightly at him, shaking her head._

_Couldn't he see that she didn't care about this Lindsay girl? Well, she _cared_ because the poor girl was going through a really tough time -what with finding out that her mother lied to her, and that her father was Caleb Nichol, and that she might have to live with _Julie Cooper_. But she didn't care that she had just walked in on the redhead hugging Ryan, crying softly into his shoulder. Yes, it brought back painful images of Theresa crying, of Ryan putting a comforting arm around her, but for some reason it wasn't painful this time._

_Because she trusted him._

_It hit her like a Mack truck, taking her breath away for a few seconds. She knew nothing was going on, because he was just being Ryan, and comforting a helpless girl. And the way he was looking at her, almost like a wounded puppy, made her heart squeeze painfully in her chest. What had she been doing these past four months? Screw being independent; screw 'getting in touch' with herself. Screw therapy. Screw Dr. James._

_What she wanted was to screw Ryan._

_Well, maybe not right this second, because Lindsay was still here, wiping the tears off her cheeks and trying to join in Ryan's defense. Plus, it would be a little confusing for him if she just jumped him without warning – not that he hadn't been receptive to the technique back in Chino, but after everything they'd been through, she probably owed him _some_ sort of explanation before she started ripping his clothes off._

_She realized she had been silent for a while; Ryan was frozen to the spot, and Lindsay was grabbing her purse and making excuses to leave, apologies still tumbling from her lips. When they were alone, his mouth opened, and she could see the familiar lines forming in his brain: 'I'm sorry', 'I want to make this work', 'I understand if you want me to go away'._

_She stepped forward, placing her hands on either side of his face and kissing him lightly. When she pulled away, his eyes were closed, eyebrows raised in an expression of disbelief. He opened his eyes, still unsure, and she rolled her eyes at him._

_He began to smile as his arms wrapped around her for the first time in seven months._

* * *

Ryan watched her leave, thinking about what he was going to tell Trey. Thinking about what he was going to tell Trey, _not_ staring at her ass… she got into her car, and he turned away, trance broken. Sandy was handing Trey money, but his brother was watching _him_, not the man shoving bills into his hand.

"I thought you could take Trey shopping," Sandy explained when he reentered the pool house.

"Yeah, sure," he replied, glancing up to finally meet his brother's eyes.

It was going to be a _long_ day.

* * *

_By the way, in case no one gets the reference, the Mack Truck company makes these really huge trucks, hence the phrasing. I'm not sure if it's a local thing, and if it is, sorry! I guess they wouldn't be using it in California then…_

_Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! And you may have to wait a while, cause I have NO idea where this story is going… I'm pretty much just spit-balling here…_

_Review please! It may inspire me!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Sorry it's taken so long, but things have been kind of crazy. Work, mid-terms (which I aced, thank you very much), and then the site decided to remove all of my formatting, so I had to go and redo all of my stories… still kinda pissed about that one._

_Anyway, read, enjoy, and review!_

* * *

"So… Taylor?"

Ryan had been tense since the minute Sandy left, through the car ride and the walk through the mall. They were in a clothing store, trying to find his brother new shirts. They hadn't mentioned the girl, but it seemed like curiosity had finally taken over. "Yeah," he looked up briefly, then back down at the pile of shirts. "She lives here," he explained lamely.

"What are the odds," Trey mused, picking up a shirt. "And you're dating her?"

"Yeah. We saw each other at a back to school party, and…" Trey grinned.

"Score," he laughed, throwing the shirt back, and turning to look at a rack of pants. Ryan folded up the discarded shirt before trailing after his brother. "It's a shame you got there first," he sighed, and Ryan felt the familiar rush of anger go through him.

"We were kind of together in Chino," he muttered. There was no way they were doing this again. This time, Trey was gonna _know_ she was unavailable.

"What? Seriously?" He nodded, and Trey's eyebrows shot up in stunned disbelief. "How did I not know?"

"Mom would've freaked if she knew. I mean, we weren't exactly _dating_, we were just…" Why was he telling Trey this? He didn't need to know. But the look on his face gave Ryan a sick thrill of triumph. He remembered that feeling from back in Chino, when he, Trey, and Taylor would all be hanging out – he and Taylor shooting each other dirty looks while Trey took no notice.

"Dude, I can't believe you were screwing her, and you didn't tell me." Trey paused, looking off into the distance as if remembering. Then a smile broke over his face, and he laughed, "oh man! Remember how I used to talk about doing her all the time? You must've been _dying_ not telling me."

Trey's smile was infectious, and Ryan relaxed, grinning back. He was glad Trey wasn't pissed - that he wasn't going to make a scene. "Yeah, kind of," he told his big brother, ducking his head. Trey was right, it had been hard not saying anything. Not gloating.

"So how is she?" his brother asked. Ryan stayed silent, still smiling at the floor. "I bet she's wild. I'm right, aren't I?" Trey pestered as they walked through the store. "I mean, she _must_ be, for you to have stayed with her for… Jesus, a year and a half?" He shook his head in wonderment as Ryan nodded. "Man, you've sure changed. The closest thing you ever came to a 'relationship' back in Chino was Theresa, and even that was barely anything. And now you've been monogamous for a _year and a half_."

"Well, it hasn't _technically_ been a year and a half." He wasn't sure why he was arguing. "We broke up for a month or so the fall of my first year here, and then again for seven months. The first time… other people got in the way," he _really_ didn't want to explain the whole him-Taylor-Hunter-Marissa square debacle. "The second time was right after Eddie got Theresa pregnant, and I…" he trailed off, wincing at the memory.

"You went with Theresa," Trey's voice was monotone, unflinchingly condescending. "I knew you had this whole hero thing, but I didn't think you were an idiot." Ryan opened his mouth to protest, but Trey cut him off. "I mean, you get this huge house with your own private room. You get a family that – I'm assuming – doesn't beat the shit out of you. _And_ you get a hot little rich girl who seems perfectly willing to fuck _you_ for some reason…"

Ryan balled his hands into fists on a shirt, trying to control his rising anger and guilt. Taylor had pretty much said the same thing when he had come back from Chino. She'd understood his impulse to protect the girl, and also his desire to help her and the baby. But she hadn't understood why he abandoned his family – why he'd made Kirsten cry, and Sandy worry, and trigger Seth's own departure from Newport.

It had broken Seth and Summer up for a while, what with Summer trying to date again – some guy named Zach who was basically just a Seth-patch for her. And then there was the Alex thing – _Seth had_ _tried to wear a wifebeater_. He felt so guilty over it all.

"Well, I came back," he explained. "No permanent damage." _You hope_, his mind whispered cruelly. Taylor said she trusted him again, and she never brought the incident up, never held it against him, never rubbed his face in it, but he was Ryan, and his guilt complex was still working overdrive. And yes, Seth and Summer were together again, and Sandy and Kirsten were happy… _no permanent damage_.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Summer curled her legs under her, pointing her spoon at Taylor, "Atwood's brother is back and living at the Cohens?"

"In the pool house," Taylor nodded, digging her spoon into the tub of ice cream. They hadn't done this in a while – pig out on ice cream. Over the summer they'd had to move to the low calorie, non dairy crap. Then the boys had come back, and they'd broken out the good stuff again.

"Wow," Summer breathed, putting the spoon in her mouth and eating the ice cream slowly. "And Ryan didn't tell you?"

"No." She saw the lift of her friend's eyebrows, and rushed to his defense. "Which is totally understandable. I mean, his brother gets out of jail and moves in? That's gotta be tough."

"Yeah, I guess. Still, _some_ warning would have been nice. I mean, didn't you say you kissed him?"

"In a totally drunken really-out-of-it kind of way." Truthfully she barely remembered it. She remembered the feeling of hands on her waist, lips pressing against hers, but what she really got from that night was _Ryan_.

"Well, let's just hope he keeps his hands off you this time around. I mean, I've seen Atwood go all Kid Chino…" Summer's eyes went wide, and she gasped, hitting Taylor on the arm. "Remember the homecoming dance last year when he and that Hunter guy…"

"Oh, don't remind me," Taylor groaned, trying not to think of that disastrous night. Then she sighed, "but Trey is his brother. He wouldn't hit his _brother_, right?" When she didn't get an answer, she looked up at her friend. "_Right_?"

* * *

"So then he pulls out a spoon, right?" Trey grips his own spoon in reverse, "but it's all sharpened on one end – took Mikey three months to do that." He flips his utensil around, grabbing the handle and digging into his ice cream, "so he runs at me, right? with this knife-spoon, screaming bloody fucking murder." He shoves his spoon into the bowl, leaning back from the table and lifting his shirt a little. "Got me right in the side, the fucker."

"Wow." Ryan muttered into his own – more sensible – slice of pizza. The food court was probably not the best place to be discussing the Chino State Penitentiary, especially because Trey could be quite loud when he got worked up. Trey nodded proudly at his scar, letting his shirt down again. He started eating his own lunch – ice cream – again, pausing for a second with the spoon in his mouth.

"Dude, don't look now, but there's a really hot chick comin this way…" he lowered his voice, and Ryan remembered that tone – it was Trey's '_I'm either gonna get us in a lot of trouble, or get us laid'_ voice.

"Ryan!"

Shit. Like this day couldn't get any more awkward…

"Marissa," he tried to infuse his voice with enthusiasm. He and Marissa were tentative 'friends' at best. They tried for Summer's sake.

Not that Summer and Marissa were that close anymore - Marissa's relationship with her yard guy DJ had put some awkward distance between the two. And Marissa getting together with Alex? Summer had been extremely frustrated with the girl's antics – he remembered one of Summer's rage-blackouts where she had ranted about Marissa doing things just to piss off her mom, swinging her fists as Seth tried to hold her down.

He was hoping they could just exchange pleasantries, and she'd go on her way, but she sat down at the table with them, dropping her oversized purse next to his plate of food. "Who's this?"

He sighed, resting his elbows on the tabletop. "Marissa, this is my brother Trey. Trey, Marissa."

She turned to his brother with a giant smile, extending her hand. "Hey, I'd almost forgotten Ryan had a brother. How are you?"

Trey shot him a look, before breaking into his patented grin, leaning forward slightly to take her hand in his, "well, I just got out of jail and I'm crashing in a pool house. I think I'm better than I've been in a while." Marissa giggled, eyes flicking down at the table then back up to his brother.

Shit.

* * *

"I feel bad," Taylor remarked as she and Summer strolled through fashion island. "You used to love going shopping with Marissa… now she won't even hang out with you if I'm within two miles of you."

Summer bit her lip, forehead crinkling in thought. "Marissa and I aren't on the best of terms right now… that whole Alex thing… I don't know. You wanna get some food?"

"Yeah, sure," they changed direction, "but you're acting like Marissa doing stuff to piss off her mom is something new. Why the sudden change?" There was a huge sigh from the brunette, who's shoulders fell as if the weight of the world were on them.

"Promise not to freak?"

"Summer, do I ever 'freak'?"

"Good point. Anyway, it wasn't that she was dating Alex, or doing it to piss off her mom. It's why she broke up with her. See, she kind of told me… it was because she still had a thing for Ryan."

Taylor's mouth opened, but no words came out. She closed it, thinking, before opening it again. "They broke up over a year ago. They only dated for a month!" Summer raised her eyebrow as Taylor's voice raised an octave. "Sorry, no freaking."

"Ok, but let me ask you something. You fell in love with Ryan before you two even _started_ dating, right?" She nodded slowly, not liking where this was going. "And say you two hadn't gotten back together after that first time you broke up."

"Ok…"

"Would you have been over him a year from then?"

She wanted to say yes, that she would _totally_ be over him, but she would have been lying. Get over Ryan Atwood? Was that even possible? "Was Marissa in love with him?" She didn't want to hear the answer.

"No, I don't think so. But I think she loved the _idea_ of him. You know, the whole bad-boy-but-not-really thing? The danger and the security all in one?" Taylor sighed. She wished Marissa could get over trying to piss off her mother. It really wasn't healthy… Oh well, there was nothing she could do about Marissa Cooper; she just hoped the girl wouldn't try to break them up or something.

"You know, I'm not so hungry," she was snapped out of her thoughts as Summer grabbed her arm, tugging her away from the food court.

"But I am..." Taylor protested, looking longingly over at the vendors.

"You know, I hear a new Prada outlet just opened," the other girl insisted, and Taylor remembered how freakishly strong Summer could be when she was angry or desperate or afraid.

"Oh."

Summer stopped trying to haul her away, letting out a huge sigh. Taylor had noticed the three blondes sitting at the table in the middle of the food court.

* * *

"Hey, Catalina, is Taylor here?" the Spanish woman smiled, stepping aside and gesturing for him to come in. "Thanks," he ducked his head, still a little weirded out by the whole housekeeper thing. He didn't like having someone take his coat and fetch a drink for him.

"Oh joy, the little felon's here," Veronica Townsend breezed into the foyer with a sigh, grabbing her purse off the table and tucking it under her arm.

"Hello, Miss Townsend, how are you?" he asked politely. This was their normal routine. She called him 'the felon', and he spoke as if she was actually being civil.

"Feeling very secure, thank you very much. I guess I should let you know that I've had security camera's added, so don't go thinking you can get away with casing the house while my daughter's asleep."

Ten months. Ten _freaking_ months he'd been dating Taylor, and the woman was still just as big of a bitch as ever. Ok, so it had been one month, then six months, and now three months, but altogether it was ten, and the woman should be used to him by now. He was so fed up with this, so he couldn't help the snarky comment that made its monosyllabic was out of his mouth.

"Well, good to know you have a voyeuristic streak." He was surprised when the woman actually let out a small laugh. Ok, so it was condescending and she was still looking at him with disdain, but it was a laugh. Maybe he'd been going about this all wrong.

"Please," she scoffed, "I didn't put one in Taylor's room. The last thing I need is video evidence that the girl can't keep her legs closed." He wanted to continue this sarcastic banter between them, because maybe she'd respect him more if he showed her he could give as good as he took. Plus, she'd just called her daughter a slut – _again_ – so he was a little pissed off.

"Then you might want to take the cameras out of the kitchen, the living room, the game room…" he ticked off the rooms on his fingers, trying not to smile as Veronica's face twisted in disgust. "Oh, and your room."

"What?" the woman hissed at him in horror. Score one for team Atwood. "Catalina, please go scrub my room down with bleach."

He'd forgotten Catalina was here, and when he glanced at the housekeeper, she was shaking her head at him, forcing back a smile. He loved that woman. "Of course, Miss Townsend," she replied in her best Spanish housekeeper voice, throwing him a wink before heading up the stairs. He didn't realize he was grinning until he turned back to Veronica, who was glaring at him. The grin dropped from his face. Maybe it was time to switch back into polite mode?

"Ryan!" Taylor came down the stairs cautiously, looking between her mother and boyfriend. "Catalina just told me you were here…"

"I'm off to Yogalates," Veronica muttered in annoyance, stalking out the door.

"Hey," he slipped his arm around her waist when she reached the bottom of the stairs, pulling her close. He felt her tense up, even though she was smiling at him. But the smile was off, it wasn't her normal one – the one that lit up the room and made his heart flutter madly. It had too much Newport plastic in it for him to feel entirely comfortable.

"So what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be hanging with Trey?" He relaxed. Right, Trey. That's why she was weird and tense – she was nervous about Trey.

"Actually, I came over here cause I think we have a problem." The horror that crossed her face took him by surprise, as did the way her bottom lip started to tremble. What the hell?

"Problem?" she whispered, and her voice wavered a little. She must be really worried about Trey…

"Ok, Trey and I were eating in the food court today," he began, brow furrowing when she looked absolutely stricken, "and Marissa was there." He caught the barely audible '_oh my God'_ that escaped her. Did she already know the problem? Maybe she guessed – she was very perceptive. "I think Marissa has a thing for Trey," he concluded, just in case she hadn't figured it out.

"Oh my G-" she broke off her sentence, doing a double take and looking at him like he'd grown two heads. "Marissa and _Trey_?"

"Yeah," he laughed lightly at her disbelief, "what did you think I was gonna say?"

"Nothing. Nothing," she threw her arms around his neck standing on her toes to press her lips against his sloppily, pulling back and finally smiling her bright smile. Then her face clouded, "oh. Are you sure? I mean, they only talked over lunch…"

"They were kinda flirting," he shrugged, as if trying to remember. "It was creepy, and you know how Trey is. He thinks any girl that talks to him is into him."

"Yeah, that's bad. Ok, we'll just have to make sure. I'll talk to Summer."

"I was just going to suggest that," he murmured, leaning down to kiss her again. She was so smart; she always knew just what he was thinking. Or maybe, his stupid brain kicked in, maybe _he_ was smart, too, and that's why they thought of the same things. No. She was just perceptive.

"Wanna go upstairs?" she breathed, breaking the kiss and raising an eyebrow at him. Screw the plan. He placed his hands on her hips and twirled her around, marching her up the stairs.

"Oh, just in case she says anything," he warned as he forced her to walk, "I might have told your mom we had sex on her bed."

"What?!"

_

* * *

_

Oooh. Drama!

_Review! It makes me write faster!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Ok, how hard was this chapter to write? Answer: very. Seriously, I don't know what's wrong with me lately, but I've been having lots of trouble with this one (and 'In Bloom', if you haven't noticed). So I hope, as always, that this is good._

_Happy reading!_

* * *

Taylor tiptoed down the stairs. Turns out it's a lot harder to sneak out of the main house than it is the pool house. They should've known this, but last night they hadn't exactly been thinking with their brains. There were noises and smells of cooking breakfast wafting from the kitchen, and she cursed her luck. Even though no one would _see_ her leave, they'd hear the front door open. Time to improvise.

She opened the front door, then closed it loudly, before walking to the kitchen as if she'd just come in. _Not_ as if she'd spent the whole night. To her surprise it wasn't Kirsten at the stove – well, not really _surprise_, because Kirsten didn't cook. It was Trey, looking a lot more put together then he ever had back in Chino and standing over a frying pan. He looked up at her, and she wished she could read this Atwood brother like she could Ryan.

"Hey," he nodded at her, eyes guarded, face blank.

"Good morning!" she pasted a huge smile on her face, setting her purse down on the counter. "Is Ryan awake yet?" She knew he was – he was currently upstairs taking a shower – but she had to make it sound like she didn't know that.

"Uh, no, but he should be soon. He usually gets up pretty early," he made a slight gesture at the bowl where he was beating eggs, and she felt warmth rise in her chest. Trey was making Ryan breakfast – although she highly doubted Trey would admit it. "So, uh, how are you?"

God this was awkward. Her moment of warm-fuzzy-brotherly-love feelings had passed, and she was back to uncomfortable-dear-God-I-hope-he-doesn't-remember-we-drunkenly-kissed. "I'm good." Which was pretty much the lamest answer ever, but what was she supposed to say? '_I'm not sure how I feel about you staying in Newport'_? Yeah, that would go over big. It's not that she wanted Trey gone – she desperately wanted Ryan to have his big brother back, to feel some connection to his family. But still…

"Oh. Good." She smiled at him, masking her discomfort, and they stood in silence again. "Um, you want an omelet?"

She was suddenly very aware that she was _starving_, so she nodded vigorously. "_Please_." He went back to beating the eggs for a few seconds before pouring them into the pan, where they sizzled. "I didn't know you could cook," she commented, trying to make conversation. She was going to try her hardest to make things not weird, for Ryan's sake.

"Something I picked up in prison, actually."

"How… nice," she laughed, and he ducked his head, smiling. She choked on her laughter when he did that, throat tightening. No matter how hard everyone tried to pretend like Ryan was a Cohen…

"So I take it you and your mom made up?" His head was back up, and he turned to the stove, prodding the edges of the omelet to see if it was cooking properly.

"Oh no," she sighed, leaning against the counter, "she's still a bitch." He looked up sharply at her, looking for an explanation. "I just don't spend that much time there anymore, so it's bearable."

"Right," he murmured, "you probably spend a lot of time over here."

Crap. Looks like they were finally getting to it. "Yeah. Well, here and over at Summer's… but you haven't met Summer yet, have you? She's Seth's girlfriend – you have met Seth, right? Of course you have, you're living with him, how stupid of me…" she broke off when he laughed, and she realized she was rambling. "Sorry."

"It's cool. So you and Ryan have been together for a while now, right?" he began adding cheese to the omelet, folding it in half when he was done.

"Yeah." She didn't want to elaborate, because she really wasn't sure how much Ryan had told him. Did he know about Chino? Did he know about Hunter and Marissa, or Theresa? Probably not. Ryan wasn't much of a talker.

"I guess I should apologize," he flipped the omelet, "for hitting on you so much back in Chino. I didn't know you two were going at it like bunnies…"

"We weren't!" she cut in, feeling her face heat up as Trey grinned. Damn it, Ryan. Go figure he'd tell Trey that. Ok, yes, they _had_ been going at it like bunnies, but there was no need to…

"Hey." She and Trey turned towards the entrance of the kitchen, where Ryan and Seth stood – Ryan looking wary and guarded, Seth a little more obvious about his fear.

"Hey," Trey's voice was just as monotone as Ryan's had been, but instead of being suspicious like Ryan was, he was a little fearful – probably because he didn't want to upset his brother. Which brought back all of those warm fuzzy feelings.

* * *

Something felt off. He couldn't quite tell what it was, though. Maybe it was walking into the kitchen this morning to find Trey and Taylor talking – Taylor red and Trey grinning and looking like they were actually having a real conversation. Or maybe it was because Trey was currently going out to lunch with Marissa Cooper. He wasn't sure why the girl was hanging out with his brother, but he wasn't happy about it. He really wanted Trey to stay out of trouble, and Marissa was kind of a magnet for problems and drama. But he couldn't tell Trey not to go, because he didn't want his brother getting angry – Ryan wasn't stupid, and Trey had one hell of a left hook.

* * *

"Hey," Trey greeted, walking into the guest bedroom where Ryan sat on the bed reading. Ryan nodded at his brother, putting his book down and pulling the headphones out of his ear.

"How was lunch?"

"It was cool," Trey dropped onto the bed at his feet with a grin. "That chick is hot. A little uptight, but still hot." Ryan sighed.

"Well, don't think she's just gonna let you in," he warned, sitting up fully. "She dated her one boyfriend for like, six years before she let him. Although, that doesn't mean she won't flirt and make you think she's gonna let you…"

"Woah," Trey held his hand up, halting Ryan's speech. "_You_ dated Marissa?"

Shit. "For like, a month about a year and a half ago…"

"Would this be the same month you and Taylor broke up?" Ryan didn't need to say anything for his brother to get it. Trey shook his head, clapping Ryan on the shoulder. "Anyway, the real reason I wanted to talk to you…" oh no. This couldn't be good. "I told Marissa I didn't want to mooch off the Cohens – and you – and she told me about this apartment her ex-boyfriend Alex had-"

"Alex is a girl." There was a pause, and Trey's eyes glazed over. Ryan laughed a little – Seth had the same reaction when he found out. Ryan had pretended to be disgusted by it, because the look on Taylor and Summer's faces weren't exactly tolerant of thinking it was hot.

"Anyway, she told me about this _girl's_ apartment, and now it's empty, so I was thinkin about getting a job and renting the place." Trey looked up at him, and Ryan could tell he was actually nervous. Maybe Trey really did want to make a new start here in Newport.

"That's great, man," he smiled, holding out his hand for Trey to shake. Trey grinned, gripping his hand.

* * *

"We should do something," Summer commented, stirring the syrup on her plate around with her fork. "I mean, you don't turn twenty-one every day."

"Yeah, like a party," Seth cut in enthusiastically. Taylor threw a sideways look at Ryan, who's arm around her had gone stiff.

"Maybe not a party," she countered softly, placing a hand on Ryan's leg under the table and squeezing a bit. "Just a small get-together. I mean, it's not like he really knows anyone in Newport to warrant a party. Just us… and Marissa, if she'll be in the same room as me. And we can make it a dinner, then Sandy and Kirsten can join in." Summer shrugged her acceptance of the plan, and Seth began rambling about what kind of food an ex-con would like for his 21st birthday party.

"Thanks," she heard Ryan's voice rumble in her ear, and she turned her head to bury her face in his shoulder. They both knew what Trey was like at parties – what Trey was like drunk and high. He was trying to make a new start, and a party with bored Newport kids who thought doing coke off the living room table was 'cool' didn't fit in with that new life.

* * *

"I'll cook out on the grill," Seth waved the barbecue tongs in the air. Kirsten put down her glass of wine and grabbed them from him, muttering something about putting someone's eye out.

"Hey," Trey walked into the kitchen, stopping short when he found everyone staring at him. Ryan decided to save his brother from a Cohen family ambush, and nodded his head towards the living room. Trey just shot him a look, and they both went out – he could hear Seth saying something about 'non-verbal Atwoods' as they went. "What's up?" Trey asked. He looked like he was expecting bad news. Ryan knew that feeling. For about the first six months he lived with the Cohens, every time someone wanted to 'talk' he always expected to get the '_sorry, but you can't stay here anymore'_ speech.

"We were thinking of having a birthday thing for you," he told his brother, voice low in case the Cohens were listening. Not that they didn't know about the plan, but they really shouldn't eavesdrop. He conveniently forgot that he used to spy on people all the time back in Chino. "Not anything big, just a dinner with the Cohens, Summer, Taylor, and Marissa if you want." He gave Trey a wary grin, trying to break the tension, "at least Kirsten's father and Julie Cooper won't be coming. I heard they're going out of the country."

"Yeah," Trey looked down at the floor. "Marissa told me they'd be gone for a while. She wants to throw me a party, too…" he trailed off, but Ryan could tell which party Trey preferred. Shit. He really didn't want Trey in the party scene. "She says it'll be really small," he added when Ryan hesitated. "Just a couple people, so I can start getting to know everyone around here. Since I'm staying and all."

There was really no way to argue without sounding like he didn't trust Trey, so he put on a smile – he almost gagged, because he actually _had_ a fake smile now – and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like fun."

* * *

"I'm surprised I'm invited," Taylor whispered, feeling Ryan's arm tighten around her waist as they walked into the Nichol mansion. She'd been here before, but it seemed even more imposing during the night time. "And it's very convenient that Caleb and Julie decided to stay in Europe an extra couple of weeks," she added. She should shut her mouth, really, but she couldn't help it. She didn't _like_ Marissa, and it was getting hard trying to tolerate the girl when she did idiot things like this. Like throw an ex-con a full on Newport bash when he was fresh out of jail. Even if the girl _had_ only invited a few people, she wasn't stupid. She should've known everyone on God's green earth would show up to take advantage of an empty mansion and the excuse to party. Oh well, they'd just have to make sure Trey stayed out of trouble.

* * *

Ryan folded his arms, sighing impatiently as Trey recounted his prison stabbing for the fifth time that night. The group of teenagers gathered around him gasped at the appropriate places; the girls in the group cooing in sympathy as he raised his shirt to show the scar. "They said I was lucky it missed any major organs," Trey let his voice drop menacingly, and a couple of the girls were looking at him with doe eyes. Ryan couldn't help but want to roll his eyes at how easily they bought into his brother's story; the truth was, the spoon-knife hadn't been very long, so the wound wasn't very deep. But as Trey had told him earlier '_chicks dig scars_'.

"I know what you're saying, man," he heard Seth join in, punching Trey on the arm. "This one time when I was thirteen, Captain Oats' hoof caught me right in the stomach…"

Trey grinned, looking impressed. "A horse kicked you in the stomach? That's hardcore…"

"Well, actually, he was under my blankets, and I fell on him…" Trey was giving him a weird look – one Ryan recognized from pretty much everyone.

"Captain Oats is a plastic horse," Summer groaned, putting her hands over her eyes.

"Oh," Trey shot Ryan a look that could only be interpreted as '_seriously?'_ Unfortunately, yes.

"But he's got really sharp hooves…" Seth tried to protest, trailing after his girlfriend as she walked toward the kitchen. The group of students was silent for a few seconds, before some girl in a short skirt and bikini top broke it.

"So did _you_ ever stab anyone?"

* * *

"So this is a fun party," she commented lazily, sitting on the bed that had just been vacated by three teenagers she had never seen before.

"Oh yeah," he mumbled, dropping next to her and flopping to lay on his back, legs dangling off the edge of the bed. "Alcohol, drugs, threesomes. Fun." She gave a weary sigh, shifting to rest her head on his chest, and they lay in silence for a few minutes. It was a nice break from the noise of the party – which could still be heard through the walls, so it wasn't _technically_ silence, but it was close enough. "Although," she heard his voice lose its somber tone, "I was just thinking, a threesome _could_ be fun…"

Taylor resisted the urge to slap him, instead opting to fake him out. "Oh yeah," she twisted, turning to lie on her stomach and propping her chin on her fist on his chest. He looked startled at her response and the sly grin she gave him. "We should try that sometime…" She almost laughed when he swallowed hard, propping himself up on his elbows to get a better look at her.

"Yeah?" his voice was hoarse, eyes wary and more than a little hopeful. What a boy. She lifted her head off him, shifting and throwing one leg over his hips and tracing a finger down his chest.

"Mhmm," she whispered quietly, brushing her lips over his lightly before pulling away and looking thoughtful. "But who would be our third?" Ryan's jaw opened, but nothing came out, so she hummed in 'thought'. She steeled herself for the next sentence. "How about Trey?"

It took about three and a half seconds for her words to cut through his fogged brain, and she watched his head snap up to look at her. "_What?_"

She felt her heart speed up at the rage lacing his voice – the promise of hot, angry sex. "Oh you know, our third. I mean, it should probably be someone we both know, and it can't be Seth, because he's with Summer…"

"No." He looked absolutely disgusted, and she wanted to grin. "Just… no."

"Why not?" she pouted, making it worse by rocking her hips against his.

"There's no way in hell I'm letting another guy fucking touch you," his hands went to her waist, gripping her possessively. She stopped moving her hips, looking him straight in the eye.

"And what makes you think I'd ever want another girl touching you?" He opened his mouth to respond, then closed it.

"Sorry." His shoulders relaxed, and he seemed to finally get the stupidity of his desire for a threesome. Good, that should stop _that_ conversation from ever happening again. His hands moved from her waist to rest on her ass, pulling her down firmly against him. "I'm sorry," her murmured again, one hand moving up to pull her head to him, kissing her gently. Well, it wasn't angry sex, but guilty sex was almost as good…

He rolled them over so his was on top, kissing her lips lightly before moving for her jaw, her neck, whispering apologies as he went. He didn't have to apologize – she wasn't angry – but there was no way she was going to tell him that. Because when he felt guilty, he always made it up to her in _very_ nice ways…

Like right now. He let one of his legs slide between hers, bringing his knee up far enough to press into her center. She moaned, twitching her hips to grind herself into his leg as his mouth traveled down to mouth her breast through her shirt. One hand braced his body up, the other running under her shirt, exposing her stomach…

There was a sharp scream that made them both freeze, and the sounds of the party – except for the pounding base music – nearly stopped. She threw Ryan off of her, and they both stumbled to the door, rearranging clothing on the way.

Out at the pool, Seth was in the water hauling an unconscious girl out of the water and handing her to a couple people on dry land. She watched Ryan jog over and help pull his brother out of the pool, then turn his attention to the girl on the ground. It was no one she knew, but that didn't make it any better.

* * *

"Do you live here, sir?" the officer asked as Sandy made his way towards them.

"No," he replied, eyes not leaving Ryan and Seth, "but I'm responsible for these five," he waved vaguely at his two sons, and their girlfriends and Marissa. The ambulance pulled away and the officer sighed.

"Who lives here?"

"I do," Marissa stepped forward, and Ryan was actually surprised. He didn't expect her to take the fall.

"Where's your parents?" the cop questioned, frowning at her. She shrugged.

"I dunno. Out? She's not answering her cell." He watched in shock as Taylor placed her hand on Marissa's arm, and Summer moved forward on her other side, taking Marissa's hand.

"I'm gonna need you to turn around, Miss. I'm gonna have to take you in," he moved forward, cuffs at the ready, and Ryan had no idea what to do. Yeah, this was her house, but there was no way this was her fault.

Luckily Sandy stepped forward, and he and the cop began talking, something about ecstasy, and how _someone_ here must have provided it. And since they couldn't identify the drug dealer…

"It was me." He wanted to punch his brother, hard. What the hell was he doing? "I gave her the drugs."

"Trey…" Sandy looked stunned.

"I'm sorry," Trey mumbled, shooting Ryan a quick look before ducking his head again.

"Keep your mouth shut," Sandy said loudly over the police officer's spiel about Trey's right to remain silent. "I'm his lawyer."

He watched as his brother was shoved into the cop car, and it was all way too familiar for his tastes. Sandy yelled something about he and Seth getting home – and getting the girls home safely – before heading off after the police cruiser. He turned towards the girls in question, still feeling slightly uneasy at the way Taylor had her arm around Marissa's shoulders.

He knew they should've stuck with a nice, quiet dinner.

_

* * *

_

Ok… um… so I'm not sure how good this is. I kinda wrote it sporadically, so I hope it fits together.

_Anyway, review, because it makes me happy. Remember how stressed I am? Reviews are like valium… _


	4. Chapter 4

_Umm… I feel like I'm on repeat mode, but this chapter is kinda just a filler, something to move the story forward. That's why it's really short…_

_Also, this is pretty much the last chapter that follows canon (as closely as I can under the circumstances). After this it goes my own way, which totally ignores the episode 'The Return of the Nana'._

_Anyway, enjoy!_

* * *

"Is this a good idea?" Seth asked quietly. Ryan looked over at him, face blank.

"Probably not."

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Taylor furrowed her brow, looking down at the floor as they stood by her locker. "You and Marissa are… going to perform some sort of drug sting operation?"

"To get Trey out of trouble. He didn't do it," Ryan spoke wearily. "You _know_ he didn't."

"Of course I know that," she frowned. "But I'm not liking the whole part where you have to go to some party with a bunch of druggies, who, by the way, hate you."

"And that's why you can't come," he sighed, pulling her arm as they started to walk down the hall. "I mean, not only would you stick out," he smiled down at her bright pink sweater and khaki skirt, "but I don't want you in the line of fire."

"Well I don't want you to get in trouble either!" she shot back. Sometimes she wished Ryan was a little less concerned for her, and a little more for himself. She also wasn't too keen on the idea of him going to a rager with Marissa Cooper of all people.

* * *

"Any sign of Kyle?" Ryan scanned the crowd warily, feeling unease crawl up his spine. Marissa was tense next to him.

"No, but he probably shouldn't see you here," she murmured, and he nodded. The less people that saw him, the better. Even Newport kids weren't oblivious enough to miss his tendency to 'do the right thing', and he was sure they wouldn't appreciate him being here. "Here he comes," she whispered harshly, spinning him to face her so that Kyle couldn't see him.

His entire body was tense, every nerve on fire. He felt like he was back in Chino – constantly on edge, on watch, ready for someone to see him and decide they wanted to kill him. Kyle was walking toward them, and he started to panic. Shit, he hoped Kyle couldn't see… his eyes went wide when Marissa grabbed the back of his neck, pressing her lips to his.

"Marissa, what the hell?" he pulled away, watching Marissa's face settle back into an innocent expression.

"I didn't want Kyle to see you," she explained, shrugging like it was obvious. "They always do it in the movies…"

Fine, whatever. He wasn't going to get into this now. A girl stumbling toward him caught his eye. "Jess," he muttered, moving away from Marissa, who looked slightly annoyed. He watched the two girls talk – Jess falling into the taller girl and hugging her. She was completely high. Marissa shot him a look as Jess pulled her outside, and he followed.

* * *

Taylor sighed, staring at the stage. _The Sound of Music_ wasn't coming along as nicely as she'd like – the leading lady couldn't carry a tune, the mountains looked more like hills, and the lighting was completely wrong. Well, at least one of those she could fix right now.

"Hunter," she called, and the boy stuck his head out from behind a curtain. "The lights are too bright for the Nazi chase scene," she frowned, gesturing at what was supposed to be a nighttime scene, lit like they were on the sun. He nodded, went back behind the curtain, and eventually the lights dimmed. "That's good!" she yelled, and the lights froze. One problem down. Now all she had to do was have them re-make the scenes and fire Felicia.

Hunter jumped down off the stage making his way over to her. She tensed up, but relaxed slightly when he smiled at her. "Hey," he pushed his hands into his pockets, looking nervous. "I know we have to work together, and I know it's been weird between us, so… I want to try and be your friend." He held up his hands in defense when she looked uncertain. "I don't mean we have to be bestest best friends, but we need to at least be comfortable enough to work on the play."

"Yeah," she sighed, looking up at the stage. It _would_ make life easier to try and forget that she ditched him on prom night – after letting him think he'd get lucky. She definitely wasn't proud of _that_ little debacle. "Friends." She took his outstretched hand, and they shook on it.

* * *

He watched Kyle move toward Marissa, and the guy was obviously high and drunk. Marissa tried to back off, but the guy persisted, and he felt a jolt of annoyance pass through him. Stupid water polo players. "Hey," he yelled loudly over the roar of the music, making his way onto the beach. "She's with me." He decided to ignore the excited look on Marissa's face, instead keeping his eyes focused on the very large, very stoned, very angry jock in front of him.

"You need to get out of here, bitch. This is a private party," the guy sneered. What the hell was it with these people and calling him a bitch?

"Well, I hope you enjoyed it," he replied blandly, "it's probably gonna be your last." He was grateful that the police car was coming down the beach. Kyle turned to him, pure hatred plastered on his face.

"You're a narc," he accused, and lunged forward. Ryan didn't have time to duck, and the boy's fist connected solidly with his face. There was the leaden impact, and the immediate numbing pain, but it wasn't too bad. He'd had worse.

Still, the guy had hit him, so he threw his own punch, adding a hit to the stomach for good measure. The asshole went down, and Ryan pinned him to the ground as the police got out of the car.

* * *

Taylor giggled into her soda. She was glad Hunter suggested this; going to the diner was a good way to distract her. Still, she couldn't help but look down at her cell phone every few seconds, hoping desperately that Ryan would call. She didn't know how long these things usually took, but it didn't stop her from freaking out. It was nice of Hunter, though, to take her out and distract her with funny stories. Maybe they could make this friend thing work – if Ryan didn't get too jealous. She could only imagine how she'd feel if he and Marissa decided to start hanging out.

Maybe she just wouldn't tell Ryan about this. It's not like she planned on hanging out with Hunter all that often. Tonight was pretty much a onetime deal.

* * *

Ryan drove, feeling light for the first time in a couple days. Trey was off the hook; Sandy was currently down at the police station getting his name cleared of all charges. And not only that, but Trey _wanted_ to spend the night at his own place. Maybe he really was growing.

Still, he couldn't shake the weird feeling. Did Trey really want a new life? Sure, he had his own apartment, and he went out to apply for a couple jobs, but was that enough? Ryan wasn't so sure. Because Trey had chosen the party – the rager – over a quiet sit down dinner with the family. Trey had chosen to hang out with Marissa, despite his warnings. Trey had decided to flirt with Taylor… ok, so that last one was pretty innocent, because Trey didn't flirt with girls consciously. It was just kinda something he _did_ without realizing it.

But Trey had chosen to party, to hang with a drama-catcher, to take the blame for the drugs. That was the part that scared him. He completely ignored the fact that if it had been Taylor in Marissa's place, he would have jumped in and taken the fall. But Trey was different. Ryan had been living in Newport for two years with a – somewhat – clean record, whereas Trey had just gotten out of jail. Really, turning himself in for a bogus drug charge wasn't the most brilliant of moves.

They were quiet as he drove, and Marissa kept stealing glances at him, which he really didn't feel like interpreting. Trey sat in the back, oblivious in his triumph. Ryan's cell phone buzzed in his pocket.

"Hey," he answered, smiling off the name on the display.

"Hey, are you ok? You didn't call, and it's been a long time, and I was getting worried. Is everything ok? Did you get the guy? Are you-"

"Taylor," he laughed, and Marissa looked at him sharply. "I'm ok, we got the guy. I was just driving Trey and Marissa back to their places." He heard her sigh in relief. "Where are you?"

"I'm at the diner. Wanna come here when you're done dropping them off?"

"Yeah, I should be there in about a half an hour." She voiced her agreement, and they hung up.

"Oh, where are you guys going?" Marissa asked, looking at him sideways.

"The diner," his answer was quick and monotone. "Taylor's already there waiting."

* * *

She looked up when he walked in with his brother, feeling her face break into a smile. Until, of course, she saw Marissa Cooper walk in after them.

No. She wouldn't jump to conclusions. Not this time. Plus, she wasn't any better, because Hunter was still here. Which Ryan saw, and she watched his shoulders tense. Then he glanced back at Marissa, and shot her an apologetic look.

"Hey," he sat down next to her, letting his arm drape across her shoulders, and stuck his other hand out towards Hunter. "It's been a while." Hunter shook his hand, looking a little wary, and Marissa sat down next to him, and Trey next to her.

Taylor spoke up, "Hunter, you remember Marissa Cooper, right? And this is Trey, Ryan's brother."

"Right," Hunter smiled at the taller girl, who nodded back. "Hey," he nodded to Trey, who nodded back.

A feeling of unease passed through her as Marissa smiled back at Hunter, although maybe that was just guilt. Plus, after everything she'd been through, Taylor had decided to give Marissa the benefit of the doubt. She'd been genuinely upset when they'd found Jess Sathers floating in the pool, so the girl obviously wasn't as vindictive and mean as Taylor had imagined.

It was just easier for Marissa to be the villain, because then that would mean Ryan had less reason to like her – because the girl was so overwhelmingly beautiful, Taylor felt a little intimidated. But she needed to stop basing their relationship on other people, and start trusting that they were together because of _them_. Otherwise they would just be consumed by jealousy all the time.

She was determined to make this work. She wouldn't let them get eaten up by the pettiness that had taken them last time. So she'd give Marissa the benefit of the doubt, and they'd all try to work it out and be friends - or at least civil with each other.

_

* * *

_

Again, I know I say this a lot, but I feel like this wasn't my best work. Maybe it's because I'm watching a movie while trying to write (not Hostel this time, though). Or maybe it's cause I'm finding it really hard to type with this brace on my wrist. Oh well. I hope you enjoyed! The next two chapters are my favorites!

_Review!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Oh my, I've really been on a writing spree lately, haven't I? I guess you can all thank my penchant for procrastination and the fact that finals are less than a month away. My way of coping with stress? Pretending it doesn't exist. I'm all about denial, baby._

_So, in honor of denial, here's chapter 5! Happy reading!_

* * *

Taylor walked along the pier, enjoying the cool night air. It was nice, she thought, being on her own for a while, taking time to herself. She rarely got that anymore, what with school, clubs, and her friends - _friends!_ It still took her by surprise sometimes that she had friends. She'd be doing something stupid and inane, like walking along the pier, and it would just _hit_ her that she wasn't alone anymore. She liked that feeling.

It was such a beautiful night. The moon shone full above the ocean, illuminating it in a bright glow, and she leaned her forearms on the rail, gazing out at the water. The beach was nearly deserted, which was strange, but then she remembered there was a huge night-surfing party going on somewhere down the coast. Her eyes strayed to two lone figures – a boy and a girl – walking along the shoreline.

Her heart jumped madly in her chest when her eyes adjusted to the dim light, and she realized it was Marissa and Hunter. What the hell? As far as she knew, those two weren't friends – they were hardly acquaintances. Maybe they became friends after she and Ryan broke up with them? That would actually solve a lot of problems, she thought. If Marissa and Hunter got together…

She had to find out. So she made her way to the nearest set of stairs leading down to the beach, ducking behind them as the couple made their way under the docks. A private spot to make out? They weren't the most obvious couple, but neither were she and Ryan – or Seth and Summer. She tiptoed stealthily toward the dock, hiding behind one of the support beams to catch the faint sounds of their conversation.

"…no, she's absolutely no help," Hunter was saying, and Taylor furrowed her brow in confusion. "She says she's _trying,_ but apparently snarky comments aren't going to break them up."

"Well we need to do _something_," Marissa's desperate voice cut in, sounding like she was on the verge of a meltdown. Taylor remembered Ryan telling her once that Marissa cried a lot – especially if it helped her get her way. "If I have to see him with that bitch one more time…"

"Hey," Hunter's angry voice cut in. "Stop calling her that. We agreed to try and be civil about this. You don't call Taylor a bitch or a whore, and I won't call Ryan a felon." Marissa gave a huge sigh, mumbling something like '_fine'_.

Taylor didn't actually hear what the girl said, because she felt an unfamiliar feeling rush through her. This must be what rage feels like, a part of her brain whispered as her body tensed, blood pumping furiously through her. It was strange, though, that a part of her was totally tranquil. Like the eye of a storm – one piece of her brain that calmly broke the situation down: Marissa and Hunter had teamed up to break her and Ryan up, and – if Hunter's first comment meant what she thought it meant – her mother was in on it too.

She was so angry. Why couldn't people just leave them alone? Seriously, what had she done to make them go after her like this? And it's not like Marissa and Hunter weren't good looking enough to reel in anyone they wanted. Why didn't they just go and find someone else? Why her and Ryan? Was it pride? Was it because she had dumped Hunter right when he thought he was back in? Was it because Marissa couldn't handle _Taylor Townsend_ beating her for something?

As her brain serenely shifted through all the options, her rage-fueled body had its own idea, and she stepped out from behind the pillar. The two looked up at her, startled.

"Taylor," Hunter's eyes went wide at the look on her face. "This isn't what you think…"

"You bitch."

It was out of her mouth before her mind could stop it, and Marissa's eyes hardened at the words.

"Excuse me?" Marissa sneered, crossing her arms and giving her a disdainful look. Taylor stalked over to the girl, not giving the blonde a chance to react before her arm lashed out.

Marissa's head whipped to the side at the force of the slap, and the loud sound of it rang under the dock. There was silence, and Taylor couldn't believe what she'd done. She had just bitch slapped _Marissa Cooper_. She should apologize, or…

She wasn't expecting it to hurt that much, the rational part of her brain mused as she stumbled back a step. Marissa's hand made a solid connection with the side of her face, making her cheek sting and the anger rise up in her again. Oh, this bitch was _so_ going down… She flashed back to all those months ago; to Ryan standing behind her, showing her how to curl her fingers properly, and there was a crack as her fist connected with Marissa's face, knocking the other girl to the ground, and she heard Hunter mutter something under his breath. Shit. She hadn't meant to actually _punch_ the girl…

She took a wary step towards the thin girl on the ground, who was holding her hand to her cheekbone, where there was already a welt. "Marissa, I'm so sorry…" her words were cut off as Marissa launched herself up, tackling her around the waist, taking her breath away and making her head slam hard into the compact sand. She gasped for air, struggling to get out from under the taller girl, who was currently trying to wrench her arm out of its socket.

Everything went blurry, arms flying, words yelled, and suddenly she was alone on the sand. She tried to focus her gaze through her lack of oxygen, and saw Hunter holding Marissa back, yelling at her to calm down. Taylor finally took in a shuddering breath, and suddenly she felt everything. Her hand throbbed from where it had connected with the sharp bones of Marissa's face, and her stomach pounded from where the girl tackled her. There was also a cool trickle of liquid on her temple, and she reached a hand up to wipe the blood off. Why was she bleeding? The only solution she could come up with was that one of Marissa's rings had split her eyebrow open.

After he calmed Marissa down, Hunter turned and knelt next to her. "Are you ok?" he murmured, thumb running across her temple to wipe some blood away. She flinched back, and swatted his hand away, standing up and brushing the sand off her skirt. "Taylor, I'm so sorry," he followed her up, looking like he really _was_ sorry.

"For what?" Her voice sounded strained, and it hurt her stomach to talk. "For the fight, or for going behind my back and teaming up with that drama bitch to try and break Ryan and me up?" Marissa bristled again at her words, but one glare from Hunter stopped whatever the girl had been about to say.

"I only did it because I want to be with you," he placed his hands on her arms, looking her directly in the eye. In that calm part of her brain, she mused that if this were a movie, he'd probably be the lead role – a nice clean-cut boy fighting to win her heart, teaming up with an enemy to save her from the bad boy who had taken her away. But this wasn't a movie, this was real life, and right now he was just an asshole who couldn't get it through his incredibly thick skull that she didn't want him.

"Well, I don't want to be with you." He recoiled a bit, face clouding over. "Even if Ryan weren't around," she added, guessing what his next argument would be. She stepped back out of his grasp, infusing her voice with as much determination as she could. "Goodbye, Hunter."

* * *

The door to the pool house opened, and Ryan didn't have to turn around to know it was Seth. It could be Taylor – she and his brother were the only ones who came in without knocking – but somehow a sixth sense told him it was his brother.

"Dude," Seth said breathlessly, and Ryan turned to see the panic covering his face.

"What's wrong?" He knew it. Everything had been going too well lately: Trey was adjusting, Marissa had backed off, he and Taylor were better than ever. It was too good to last.

"Ok, promise you won't freak out and go all Kid Chino on me?" Seth began pacing, wringing his hands.

"I promise, what is it?" He prepared himself for the worst: Taylor's mother was going to take her out of the country, someone shot Sandy, Kirsten got in a car accident.

"You might wanna sit down…"

"Or I could stand," he cut in angrily. "Now tell me what happened."

Seth looked up at him fearfully, going pale. "Trey tried to rape Marissa."

* * *

"Hello?" Taylor tried to sound cheerful, although her entire body ached too much to really achieve it.

"Taylor, oh my God," Summer's voice came over the line, sounding desperate and unsure.

"Summer, what's wrong?"

"It's Marissa," the other girl's voice shook, and Taylor began to panic. Shit. Marissa had told Summer about the fight. Would Summer forgive her for beating up her best friend? Not that Marissa hadn't gotten her own shots in, but she had thrown the first punch – slap, whatever. "Trey tried to rape her."

"What?" Taylor hissed, heart pounding. "When?"

"Just now," Summer said feebly, sounding broken. "And I'm not sure I would have believed her, but Taylor… she was crying, and her face was all bruised…" the girl sniffled before continuing. "She said Trey punched her and threw her to the ground and tried to rape her, but she got away, because he was drunk."

"Ok, Summer, calm down," her voice was a little harsher than she wanted it to be. "Marissa is ok, she got away." _Lying bitch_, her head screamed. But she didn't want to upset Summer any more right now with the story. That would have to wait. "Summer, listen to me. Ryan cannot hear this, ok? Please, please, tell me you didn't tell him."

"I didn't," Summer managed weakly, sounding like she was about to cry. Taylor wanted to go over there and comfort her friend, but she had some other things to do first.

"Good. Now calm down, and go be with your friend," she choked out the words, because she didn't really want Summer hanging out with Marissa.

"Ok…"

Taylor hung up the phone resolutely, storming down the stairs and out the door, to her car, which she started up and backed quickly out of the drive. Her hands were white-knuckled on the steering wheel as she drove to Trey's apartment; she tried not to speed. The last thing she needed was a ticket on top of all the drama.

She pulled up to Trey's, getting out of the car and pounding on the door. There was a slight moan from inside, and she reached into her pocket, gripping the bottle of Mace before trying the door. It was unlocked, and she opened it warily, flicking the safety off the Mace, just in case.

"Trey," she called, making her way slowly down the hall, towards the living area. Trey was sprawled on the couch, one hand over his eyes, and he moaned in response. She sighed, letting her weapon go, and stalking into the kitchen, where she grabbed a glass and filled it with water. She made her way back to the couch, and dumped the liquid onto Trey's head. He thrashed a bit, opening his eyes and sitting up.

"What the hell?" he slurred, trying to focus his eyes on her. "Taylor? What are you… where'd Marissa and that guy go?"

"Trey, what happened?" She sat down on a chair, putting the table between Trey and herself. He swung his legs over the side of the couch, placing his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

"Marissa and that guy from the diner came over. We were drinking… where'd they go?"

"Hunter?" she couldn't keep the rage out of her voice as everything started to come together. Trey nodded slowly, and she fought down the urge to break something. It all made sense. Marissa and Hunter had come over here to get Trey drunk so they could blame him for the bruises on Marissa. She was sure they hoped Trey wouldn't be able to remember enough to properly defend himself when Ryan inevitably found out.

But why the rape story?

Her stomach lurched when it hit her: Marissa and Hunter wanted Ryan to hear the story so he would come here to kill Trey. Or at least that's what Hunter wanted, because if Ryan did anything stupid, he would end up either in jail or kicked out of Harbor. But what did Marissa get out of it? She couldn't want Ryan to get in trouble… maybe she was just going along for the thrill of Ryan defending her honor. She probably didn't even think about the consequences, and Hunter surely wouldn't let her in on them.

"Trey," she stood up hastily, and the boy looked up at her. "I think you should get out of here."

* * *

He'd reached that point where his entire body shut down, where he couldn't feel anything but the cold anger coursing through his veins. He glanced calmly down at his speedometer, easing his foot off the gas when he realized he was speeding a bit. There was no need to rush this.

He wasn't sure he'd ever been this angry. Not when his father left, not when his mom kicked him out, not when he thought Taylor was going to be sleeping with Hunter. He'd never been this angry, because all those other times, he'd _deserved_ what happened. His mom kicked him out because he stole a car. Taylor was going to sleep with Hunter because he broke her heart. His dad left… ok, that wasn't his fault, but that didn't stop him from feeling like it was.

No, this time, he'd done nothing wrong. He'd taken Trey in, let him come to Newport, meet his family, hang out with his friends. This was _his_ life, and he'd let Trey be a part of it. Trey, who'd gotten him arrested, who'd taught him how to hotwire cars and pick pockets. Trey, who'd given him his first cigarette, his first drink, his first joint. Trey, who was the worst older brother a boy could possibly have.

But he'd given him a chance, because Trey was family, and everyone deserved a second chance. He'd given Trey everything. Money, trust, a new start. And how did Trey repay him? By hitting on his girlfriend, getting himself arrested, attempting rape. He'd given his brother the opportunity to start over, and Trey had taken advantage of that. He'd taken advantage of the Cohens' hospitality.

Ryan found himself at Trey's apartment, and had to pause for a second to remember even driving there. But he turned off the engine, got out of the car and made his way slowly up to the door. Trey had to leave. He had to get out of Newport. Ryan was going to do his brother – the last link to his real family – one last favor and not call the police, but he had to go.

He didn't bother knocking – what was the point? Inside the place was empty and silent, and he moved quietly down the hall. The last thing Trey needed was to hear a loud noise and panic, especially if he was drunk and afraid. "Trey?" he called cautiously into the dark, voice flat. There was a movement from the living area, and he moved toward it determinedly. "Tr-" His sentence cut off when he saw Taylor sitting on the couch, arms resting on her knees, head bowed to look at the floor. The sound of his voice made her look up and everything went black.

_

* * *

_

Review!


	6. Chapter 6

_I've been on a roll lately, because NOW I'm ignoring the two Astronomy labs due next week and the test I have on Friday._

_Also, this is for Angell! Happy birthday!!_

* * *

He opened his eyes, and he couldn't for the life of him remember where he was. All he knew was that his head hurt like a motherfucker, and he was laying on something very uncomfortable in a dark room. He relaxed a little, the familiar smell of alcohol, stale cigarette and pot smoke making him remember. He was in the living room, on the couch. He and Trey must have been out drinking – that's why his head hurt. Jesus, he must really have been drunk not to even make it back to his room. He should get back there before his mom woke up and started bitching about this.

He sat up, and blinked in confusion. This wasn't his living room. He was probably at the house where the party was… except that, looking around, it wasn't a house. It was an apartment.

"Ryan?" He looked up at the girl walking toward him, a glass of water in her hand and a concerned expression on her face. Who…?

It came back to him then. Meeting Taylor, stealing the car with Trey, getting arrested, the Cohens taking him in, finding Taylor again, the triangle, going back to Chino with Theresa, coming back to Newport, Lindsay being Caleb's daughter, Trey getting out of jail and staying in the pool house, Trey's birthday party, busting the drug dealer, Seth telling him Trey tried to rape Marissa, coming here to make him leave, seeing Taylor sitting on the couch with a bruised face and dried blood in her hair.

"Are you ok?" she sat next to him, pressing the cup into his hands, but he wasn't thirsty. He was fucking angry.

"Where is he?" he surged to his feet, slamming the glass down on the table.

"Ryan," she stood up after him, grabbing his arm.

"I'm gonna fucking kill him." His heart beat wildly in his chest, and he couldn't get the picture out of his head. Of _course_ Taylor would try to come over here and _talk_ to Trey, right after he tried to rape some other girl. And he could see it in his head; Trey grabbing Taylor, hitting her as she fought back, throwing her down on the couch…

"It wasn't Trey." Her grip on his arm was surprisingly strong, and he tugged hard to get out of her grasp. He could just see it; Trey getting on top of her, pushing her skirt up as she struggled… wait. What?

"What?"

She sighed in relief as he stopped trying to rip his arm from her hands, "Trey didn't attack Marissa." Marissa? What did Marissa have to do with this? Oh, right, attempted rape.

"How can you defend him?" She was too forgiving, his mind reminded him. Remember? She forgave him for fucking running off with another girl. She was too forgiving for her own good – look what happened. She opened her mouth to explain, but he cut her off. She needed to know that not everyone could be trusted. "He _hit_ you." Oh God, it was Theresa and Eddie all over again.

"What?" She looked genuinely confused for a few seconds, before her hand went up to the bruise on her cheek, and her eyes widened. "Oh. Oh! No, Ryan, Trey didn't hit me."

"What?" Ok, this conversation was missing something. They obviously weren't on the same page. Were they even talking about the same Trey? She sighed wearily, sitting back down on the couch and tugging him down with her. He sat down slowly, swallowing the lump in his throat as he caught her face close up – the faint bruise on her cheek, the cut above her eye, the swollen lip. He also caught the way she winced a little as she sat, his stomach rolling at the possibilities of what other injuries she had.

"Ok, here's the story," she began, sliding her grip from his arm to his hand and squeezing a little. The pressure of her hand on his made him relax slightly, enough to focus on what she was saying. "I went for a walk on the beach tonight, and I saw Marissa and Hunter together," she held up her finger when he opened his mouth to say something – probably along the lines of '_what the fuck?_' "I know. I thought the same thing. Turns out, they've been plotting – with my mother – to break us up." Another _'what the fuck?'_ tried to make its way out of his mouth but she sighed in annoyance, clamping her free hand over his mouth. "No interruptions, ok? Just let me talk." She waited with raised eyebrows until he nodded before dropping her hand. "So I kind of got angry and confronted them." It all made sense now, his brain clouded over with rage. Fucking Hunter had hit her, tried to force himself on her… "I called Marissa a bitch, and then I kinda slapped her." Wait, what? His head rose sharply to look at her, and she blushed in embarrassment. "Then she slapped me, and I got really angry, and… remember back in October when we were doing the friends thing, and you tried to teach me how to punch?" He nodded dumbly, still in shock that his girlfriend had hit Marissa Cooper. "Well, I got angry when she slapped me, so I kinda punched her in the face." He choked. _What_? She blushed furiously, not meeting his eyes anymore, and starting to ramble, "so she went down, and I tried to apologize, but she tackled me, and I hit my head on the sand, and it all took my breath away, and she was hitting me, and I think she was trying to dislocate my shoulder or something, and I think one of her rings caught me," she put a hand to the cut on her face, "and then Hunter pulled her off. Then he told me he wanted me back, and I told him to get over it, and then I left." She took a deep breath before continuing, looking back up at him now. "Then Summer called me and said that Marissa told her that _Trey_ hit her, and I knew she was lying, so I came over here, and I told him to leave town, cause I knew you'd be mad when you found out, and I didn't want you to overreact, and I waited here for you."

Well shit, that was a lot of information to process. "You punched Marissa?" he said slowly, making sure he had it all straight. She opened her mouth, turning red again, before pressing her lips together and nodding. He couldn't help it – he snorted loudly, a grin breaking his face from its normal blank expression. She looked surprised, then started to smile back.

"You _did_ say my right hook was coming along nicely…"

His grin got wider, and he shook his head at her. Looks like _she_ was the dangerous one now, he joked to himself. "I fucking love you, you know that?" She giggled, and he assumed relief was making her slightly tipsy.

"You might've told me once or twice…"

He brushed the tip of his fingers over the bruise on her face. How could he ever think Trey did that to her? Not that Trey wouldn't hit a girl – he wasn't that naïve to say his brother wouldn't – but the bruise was definitely not bad enough to be his brother's work. He wondered how bad the bruise on Marissa's face was…

Wait, there was something else. "Ok, I remember coming over here and seeing you, but… I don't really remember anything after that." He remembered seeing her bruised face, and then… nothing. He was surprised when she turned red again, dropping her head to look at her hands, and she picked nervously at her nails. "Did I faint or something?" She was silent, but she shook her head no.

"Um, you freaked out, and you started yelling about killing Trey," her voice was low and ashamed. What had happened? "And you started trying to look for him," she waved vaguely at the room, and he noticed that a chair was upturned, and there was a smashed clock on the floor, a few broken dishes scattered across the place. "I couldn't get you to calm down, you weren't listening to me." Shit. Did he hit her? Fuck, if he hurt her, he'd never forgive himself… "Ryan, I was afraid you'd actually try to kill Trey, so… I um, I…" he waited, and she began to pick furiously at her nails. He grabbed her hands, stilling the movement so she had nothing else to focus on.

"Taylor." She winced as he used that tone of voice – the one he usually reserved for Seth when the boy was being annoying and rambling and not getting to the point.

"I may have… kinda… made you black out."

"Um." _What_? "How?"

"Ok, remember you were rampaging, and I was worried, so I kind of hit you over the head. With that," she pointed to the lamp on the floor, and he barked out a surprised laugh. She looked up at him fearfully, "you were only out for five minutes or so…"

"Oh, Taylor," he shook his head at her, "Taylor, Taylor, Taylor," she looked mournfully up at him, looking confused when his hands cupped her face, pulling her in to kiss him.

"You're not mad at me?" Hope colored her voice after they broke apart, and he laughed lightly again.

"Am I mad that you can defend yourself?" He kissed her again, a little more forcefully this time. "I'm so proud of you."

She broke into a smile, lighting up his world. "Really?" He nodded, kissing her again.

"Really. Plus," he added, lips brushing against hers as he talked, "the thought of you all angry and throwing punches is fucking hot."

"Really?" her tone deepened, and he groaned, nodding desperately as he pressed his lips to hers, hands dropping from her face to trail down her sides, coming to rest on her hips. God, he loved this girl so much. And right now his head was working this out – this place _had_ belonged to Trey, so who knew what kind of diseases the couch held. No way was he letting her lay down on her back on it. Not a problem, she could just get on top of him. He loved when she rode him, rocking her hips against him, arching her body back, eyes closed, mouth open…

"Trey!" He pulled away from her, _what the fuck?_ "Oh, no, not '_Trey!_'" she mimicked the way she usually said _his_ name during sex, "I meant 'Trey!' He's leaving town. You should go talk to him before he goes."

* * *

She watched him grip the steering wheel, entire body tense, staring straight ahead. Despite the overwhelming urge to meddle, she wouldn't push him to get out of the car. She'd already forced him to drive to the bus station, but she shouldn't make him get out if he really didn't want to. She could see the muscles in his jaw clench and unclench, the different emotions flicker behind his ice blue eyes. She loved his eyes. Ok, back to the job at hand…

"Ryan," she murmured, giving him what she hoped was an encouraging look when he glanced at her. He sighed, leaning back and unbuckling the seatbelt.

"Wait here," he muttered – like she was going anywhere – and got out of the car.

Ok, so maybe she _was_ going somewhere, her mind argued as she slipped out of the car a few seconds after him, following behind him stealthily. But it wasn't like she was _going_ anywhere. She just wanted to make sure he didn't get mugged or something… _not_ spying.

He walked through the buses, looking around for his brother, shoulders hunched and hands shoved deep in his pockets. She watched him pause next to one bus and look up into the window, and when she looked up, she saw Trey sitting there. He noticed his brother, and looked down at him blandly. Then he raised one hand, face sadly expressionless, and on the ground Ryan raised his own hand in response.

It wasn't even a wave.

He didn't try to stop the bus, and Trey didn't try to open the window. The bus pulled away, and she watched Ryan's hand slowly fall to his side, shoulders relaxing as if the weight of the world had finally been lifted.

She went back to the car, trying to figure out why she wanted to cry.

_

* * *

_

Now review!


	7. Interlude

_I haven't updated this in a while, so I figured I'd be nice and post. But don't get too excited, it's only an interlude, so it's quite short and has nothing to do with the story (well, not with _progressing_ the story.) It's just something I thought of and wrote on a whim._

_Also, I'm ignoring the fact that my finals are less than a week away. Oh! But good news, I got accepted into my next college (with a bitchin' scholarship!). I'm so excited, so I'm celebrating with updating!_

_Enjoy the interlude-flashbacky goodness!_

* * *

_(Four and a half months earlier)_

"_Ok, make a fist," he murmured, standing behind her. She closed her fingers, and he let out a soft laugh. "No, not over your thumb," he gripped her hand, opening her fingers slightly so she could pull her thumb out, then pressing them shut again. "If you punch someone like that, you'll break it."_

"_Yeah, that makes sense," she frowned at her hand, and he assumed it was because she wasn't used to seeing it in a fist. He hoped she never had to use this, because he was all too familiar with using his fists. But she'd asked, because she wanted to learn how to defend herself, and he'd agreed willingly. She'd told him it would be nice to spend some 'friend time' together. He was looking forward to the time spent being near her. And he was taking every opportunity he could find to touch her._

"_Ok, now spread your feet apart," he put his hands on her hips to help her move, and resisted the urge to say 'spread your legs apart'. Jesus, his brain was completely in the gutter. She followed his direction, and he reluctantly let go of her and moved her to the side. When she was out of the way, he threw a punch at the bag hanging from the ceiling of the pool house, making it jerk violently on its chain. He'd had the thing installed after he got back from Chino. Turns out, sexual frustration made him incredibly angry, and punching things always helped. Back when he and Taylor had been in Chino, he used to go down to the gym all the time. He stepped off to the side, motioning for her to do it._

"_Ok," she sucked in a deep breath before taking his place. She shot him one unsure look before trying to recreate his swing. He choked on a laugh, and she huffed at him._

"_Taylor, that was so bad…" he put out his hand to still the punching bag, and she pouted._

"_Well excuse me," she folded her arms, glaring as he continued to laugh. "It's not my fault I didn't grow up bruising people all the time."_

"_I didn't 'bruise people' all the time," he protested. "Here," he took her shoulders and turned her to face him. "Maybe if you had something better to aim at." She looked at him in confusion, and he pointed to himself, "hit me."_

"_I can't hit you!" her eyes went wide._

"_Don't worry," he shrugged. "It's just for aiming purposes. You won't actually hit me."_

"_And why is that?"_

"_Because I also learned how to avoid getting bruised." She narrowed her eyes at him, looking annoyed._

"_You don't think I can hit you."_

"_Taylor, no offense, but you could barely hit a stationary object."_

_She slid her feet apart, looking pissed off now. "Fine. Asshole." He grinned as she balled her hands; she flicked one angry look up at him and cocked her arm._

_He caught her fist easily, grinning when she huffed angrily. Her other hand swung towards him, and he caught that one too. "Nice try, Townsend," he teased, holding her hands hostage. She struggled against him, trying to free herself, quite unsuccessfully._

"_Let go of me you jerk," she hissed, and he laughed. Watching her struggle was quite entertaining, especially the way her body twisted. _

"_Oh, Townsend," he sighed, walking her backwards until her back hit the pool house door. "You threw a sneak punch in there. That's cheating," he shook his head at her, like she was a petulant child. Of course, the way she was pouting and fighting against him didn't help the whole child analogy…_

"_It's cause you were being a stupid jerk-face," she muttered, and he snorted at her phrasing. She shut up, glaring up at him as he pressed her to the glass… her eyes went wide, all the anger draining from her as he felt the familiar thrill of feeling her body against his. "Ryan…"_

"_Sorry," he grunted, letting go of her hands and stepping back – stepping away from her warm little body. The room was tense and awkward now, and she stumbled over to where her purse sat on the counter, grabbing it and making some excuse to leave._

_

* * *

_

Another note: I changed the rating of this fic. When I originally started it, I rated it M, because all the other Chino-verse stories were (excluding the interlude-fic 'Saints'). And I didn't think about it till just now, that there's absolutely no reason for it to be M. So it's changed to a T (strong T, cause of all the bad language and almost-smut…).

_Review!_


	8. Chapter 7

_Yay! omg, finals are FINALLY over! And I'm celebrating with a little Chino-verse! Well, at least I'm happy about it, I don't know about you guys. Only one more chapter of this to go, and I'm not sure I'm gonna be continuing it._

_Anyway, now back to your regularly scheduled programming…_

* * *

"What?!"

Ryan wasn't _quite_ sure how he got here. Well, first Summer had come over to see Seth, but Seth was still asleep, so after waking up 'the bastard' - as she so lovingly put it –, she came down to the kitchen to wait for him. And Ryan had come into the kitchen to get his normal breakfast of black coffee and cereal, and he guessed _that_ was how he got here.

Of course, it hadn't been the most brilliant of times to mention the whole Marissa/Trey/Hunter swirling whirlwind of lies. He just assumed Taylor had told the girl by now, but she'd been completely confused by his comment about Taylor's right hook. Hence his explanation, and hence the outraged '_what?!'_ and the following sound of breaking dishes as she hurled one of Kirsten's wine glasses across the room.

They both stared at the broken glass on the floor in silence.

"Sorry."

"It's cool."

* * *

Seth lumbered down the steps; he wasn't sure why he had to wake up _this_ early on a Saturday, but Summer beckoned. He paused in his movements when there was a slight rustling at the front door. Had Summer left? He opened the door, only to find his brother's girlfriend standing with hand ready to knock.

"Seth!" her smile was bright, voice cheerful. "Is Ryan here?"

"Yeah, he should be up by now. What happened to your face?" He stepped aside, gesturing with his arm to come in. "You look like you had an argument with someone's fist." She stepped inside, biting her lip.

"Ryan didn't tell you?" Off his confused expression, she sighed. "Marissa hit me."

"What?" Ok, Marissa hit Taylor? What the hell had he missed?

"Well, I _may_ have hit her first, but she deserved it. Did you know she and Hunter were planning on breaking Ryan and me up?" Seriously, what had he missed? "And they framed Trey for it."

Really, he knew he could be a little self-involved, but this was just ridiculous…

* * *

"I'm not sure I want people to see me like this…" Taylor protested as Summer dragged her towards the car.

"Ok, but I want to go shopping, and you think you'd be a little more supportive considering the girl that's been my best friend since second grade did a complete one-eighty and turned into a manipulative bitch." She opened the car door and manhandled Taylor inside. "Now stop whining and put on some more makeup, because we're going shopping."

"Well hey," Seth cut in, "that's a great idea. And _maybe_, people won't jump to conclusions and think _Ryan_ hit her."

"I still maintain _she's_ the violent one now," Ryan protested, pointing at his girlfriend before getting into the front seat.

Summer felt herself relax a little as Taylor began to argue with Ryan, Seth jumping in and adding inappropriate comments. She needed to calm down. She needed to calm down so she wouldn't go into rage blackout mode.

She needed to calm down before _she_ punched Marissa.

* * *

Ryan already felt better. Walking the mall with his little group of friends… he wasn't overly fond of shopping, but this was nice.

After Trey left, he'd felt almost… empty.

He didn't want his old life back; he didn't miss it. But he'd wanted Trey back for some - inexplicable - reason. Maybe because blood really _was_ thicker than water. Maybe because they'd been through so much together. Or maybe, just _maybe_, it was because Trey made him feel better. Not better as in _happier_. Better as in _better_. As in Trey was a fuck up, and he was better by comparison.

He was a terrible person.

He wished he wasn't. He wished he could fit into Newport without having to remind everyone that he wasn't _that_ bad. Like, _hey, you think I'm a screw up? Check out my ex-con brother._ Although, he guessed having an ex-con as a brother didn't exactly _help_ him fit in either. It just took the focus off him for a little. He wished he wasn't a terrible person, because there was a girl on his arm, laughing with his friends and shooting him smiles, and he wanted to be good enough for her. He wanted to be good enough for the Cohens, to fit into their home. He wanted to be good enough to be called their son.

So yeah, he'd accepted Trey back because he'd wanted to help him. He wanted to play the savior for his brother. He wanted to be the one with the power, because all their life it had been Trey dictating what happened. That plan hadn't worked out so well. And now that Trey was gone, it felt good, because he didn't have that burden anymore - of caring for someone who didn't want to be helped. And even though he was no longer 'better by comparison', that guilt was gone now, too.

"Ryan?"

He looked at his friends, and he guessed they'd asked him a question, but he was too far gone in his own problems. "Yeah." He wasn't sure what he was agreeing to, but figured it out when they dragged him to the food court. Food was always a good idea in his book.

"Oh _hell_ no," he heard Summer mutter, her voice taking on that _quality_ he'd heard just this morning right before she broke one of the Cohen's cups.

"Let's just go," Taylor said quietly, tugging on his arm in the opposite direction. The reason, he assumed, was because Marissa Cooper and Holly Fisher were sitting at a table, drinking water and eating salads.

"Fine." Summer turned to follow, but something made him speak up.

"No." They all looked at him – Summer with rage, Taylor and Seth with confusion. "I want to talk to her." There was a few seconds of silence, and surprisingly, it wasn't Taylor whose gaze he held – it was Summer's. Summer sniffed, then shrugged, crossing her arms over her stomach. He turned to Taylor next.

"Ok." She nodded at him, and he felt that familiar rush of feeling in his gut, because she _trusted_ him. That was a nice feeling. Something someone _good_ was worthy of.

"Alone," he added, because he could only _imagine_ what would happen if Marissa and Taylor – and Summer - were within ten feet of one another. She hesitated, then nodded, saying they would be across the way at some shoe place. Seth made a whining noise as the two girls dragged him off, throwing helpless looks over his shoulder at his brother. Which, of course, Ryan ignored as he walked into the food court.

"Ryan," hope colored Marissa's voice, but he could hear the hesitance in there. Of course, both of these were very well hidden by the innocent, wounded-puppy look she gave him.

"I want to talk to you," he sat down at the table without being invited. "Alone." A pointed glance at Holly made the blonde sigh, roll her eyes, grab her purse, and leave the table, muttering something about fixing her hair.

When she was gone, he turned to Marissa, really looking at her for the first time. She tried – with makeup and hair – to cover the large bruise that spread across her left eye and the split lip, and he couldn't help but notice that Taylor's bruises looked almost nonexistent next to these. _Good girl_.

"This has to stop." He rested his forearms on the table, folding his hands together and holding her gaze. She gave a breathless laugh, but he interrupted it with a sigh. "You and me? That was a year ago. _Over_ a year ago, and I'm really sorry, but I'm with Taylor, and I have this thing where I'm kinda in love with her."

He expected her to get angry or cry or something, but she just… relaxed. Maybe not _relaxed_,exactly, but her shoulders just kind of dropped, and the expression on her face went dead. And her words, when they finally came, were tired. "What's wrong with me? I mean, why _her_?"

Why her? There were a million little reasons; he couldn't really pinpoint anything, so he shrugged. "She makes me laugh." It was the best explanation he could think of, even if it sounded lame. There was silence, and he decided now would be a good time to leave.

"I don't know how I got like this." He sighed, settling back down as he watched her head drop. Now came the tears. "I didn't used to be like this. I'm sorry," she looked back up at him, and – he was surprised – no tears. "Especially about getting Trey involved. He was a nice guy, and… I guess I didn't realize what I'd be doing. Hunter just made it sound so…"

"You need to stop hanging out with guys like _Hunter_," he snorted. "The guy may look nice on the outside, but you need to start learning how to read people, because guys like him? They're only gonna get you in trouble."

"I think that's why I wanted you," she said quietly. "You're a good guy. I just wanted someone to save me."

Ryan stared at the girl he'd dated for a month, and he remembered why he'd done it in the first place. Take Taylor out of the equation and he'd dated Marissa because she was beautiful and broken. And looking at her now, she was still that same little girl, and he wished he didn't have this damn hero thing, because it would be so much easier to hate her.

"Save yourself, first." She looked startled, and he rose from the table. "Cause if you keep depending on guys to take care of you? You'll end up like your mother."

He walked away from her, satisfied, because the stricken look on her face told him he'd struck a nerve. Because truthfully? all this shit she pulled was just to rebel against Julie Cooper, who – yes – wasn't the _best_ mother ever. But what Marissa didn't realize was that she was turning into what she hated about her mother – scheming, manipulative, and totally dependent on men who were either bad boys or boys that looked good on paper – _Jimmy Cooper, Caleb Nichol –_ but couldn't help her fix her life.

He found his friends in the shoe store, Taylor trying on some ungodly high heels – which actually made her legs look great, and he was momentarily caught up in staring at her ass. Once he was back in reality, he noticed they had stopped what they'd been doing, and were staring at him.

"Everything ok?" It was Seth who spoke, warily, looking from his girlfriend to Taylor as if he expected one of them to say something.

"Yeah. I think everything's ok." He walked over to Taylor, kissing her temple before moving his lips closer to her ear. "Nice job on her face." His girl turned bright red, and he laughed.

"Ew, what did you say?" Summer scrunched up her face, and the tension was broken.

Ryan sat down on the bench, and he watched his friends be… teenagers. Joking, laughing, talking about stupid things that didn't matter. It was nice, because after the drama of this year – after coming back from Chino, after being broken up for so long, after Trey and Marissa and Hunter – it was nice to see them so free.

"You ok, Atwood?" Summer sat on the bench next to him, her voice so quiet he could barely hear it. She didn't look at him; she kept her eyes locked on where Taylor was trying to get Seth to put on a pair of bright red heels.

"Yeah." He wasn't used to alone time with Summer, and it struck him that they had a lot more in common than he thought. The uncontrolled rage, the calm that followed. She'd grown up around alcoholics – or, actually just the one, the step-monster. She was smart and she was strong and she defended her friends, and he decided then that Summer Roberts _was_ his friend. He knew that before, obviously, because they hung out, but this was different. She turned to look at him and he saw it in her face – she knew it, too. Maybe he did fit in here. "She's still the same person."

"Who?" Summer knew who he was talking about - she was a smart girl - but he figured she just couldn't believe _he_ was saying it.

"Marissa. I think she's still the same person you knew, she's just lost her way. I… I wouldn't give up on her yet. You don't have to be best friends, but don't cut her out. Everyone deserves a second chance." There was a pause, and she stared at him hard, like she was taking him seriously, and it struck him that she actually expected him to have an opinion worth taking seriously. He wasn't sure what was happening today – first with Taylor _trusting_ him, and now being taken seriously by one of the most practical girls he'd ever met.

"Thanks," she whispered finally, nodding slowly as her eyes began to tear up, and he looked away, because he couldn't handle crying girls. Of course, when he looked away he realized Seth and Taylor had stopped their antics, frozen in place, and they'd heard everything. He didn't want to hurt Taylor with his belief that Marissa deserved a second chance, but he wasn't quite ready to give up on humanity.

"Well," her voice started off slow, "maybe people deserve more than just a second chance." She paused, voice getting louder, and she smiled, "I mean, you're on, what? your fourth or fifth chance now?"

"I didn't think I was that bad," he protested, ducking his head, and thanking whoever was listening that she wasn't angry. He felt light, all the sudden.

"Dude, you made my girlfriend cry," Seth tried to glare at him, going to Summer's side as she sniffled.

"Yeah, kick his ass, Seth," Taylor goaded, hands on her hips, and Ryan shot her a warning look. "Although," that teasing look was in her eyes, and he knew what was coming, "I could probably do it myself." Seth and Summer looked at him, and Taylor quirked an eyebrow triumphantly. Ryan shut his eyes as the girl recounted what had happened at Trey's apartment after his rage blackout.

Seth was _never_ going to let this go.

* * *

He walked purposefully down the hall. He wanted to do this. He _needed_ to do this.

It had hit him the moment he'd seen Marissa in the quad this morning. She'd been standing with Holly and their eyes had locked, and she'd smiled, but it wasn't fake. She'd smiled, and he _knew_ she'd gotten it. And with that one look, his faith in humanity had been restored, and he _knew_ he had to do this.

"Hunter."

The dark haired boy turned around from where he was directing a bunch of peons on lighting schematics. The other students scampered off – apparently everyone had heard – and Hunter gave an exaggerated sigh. "Yeah?"

The cold greeting made him clench his fists – _control_ – but he pushed on. If Marissa could change, so could this guy, right?

Right?

"Look, I'm gonna tell you what I told Marissa. This is over. I'm not doing this triangle – square – thing anymore, ok?"

There was silence, the other guy sizing him up, but after a few seconds he let out a slight laugh and a disdainful "_whatever_." Ryan gave a nod, then turned his back. He was thankful this hadn't turned into an argument. The last thing he needed was to punch the guy and get expelled. "By the way, how's your brother?"

Ryan stopped in his tracks, entire body tensing, fingernails digging into the palms of his hands. He wanted to kill the bastard. He literally wanted to kill him. He felt it take over – the cold rush of hatred running through his veins, his vision starting to blur. He'd only felt this a couple other times – usually back in Chino, but twice here. Once when he thought Taylor was going to sleep with Hunter, and the second time when he'd heard the Trey rape story. That first time he'd punched Hunter, knocking the boy to the ground in the middle of the homecoming dance, and the second he'd actually blacked out in his anger. He felt the blackout coming – is this what Summer felt? – but something stopped it.

The Cohens.

He'd said today that he wanted to be good. He wanted to be good enough to be called their son, and there wasn't any way in _hell_ he was letting this smug rich kid take that away from him over a snarky comment.

So he took a deep breath and walked out of the auditorium.

_

* * *

_

Review!


	9. Chapter 8

_You know, you'd think with classes being done for the summer, I'd have more time. Um… not so much. So now that I've got some time, I've decided to post the last chapter of this. So I'd like to thank you all for reading, especially those of you who've been with me since 'Chino'. You guys rock._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

"So how long do you think this is gonna last?" he murmured into the top of her head, words muffled by her hair. He felt rather than heard her moaned response, a lazy '_hmm_?' vibrating into his chest. "Being happy," he explained, letting his fingers brush down the soft skin of her side, dipping down at her waist and back up her hips.

"Oh, does it have an expiration date?" she pulled away from his body slightly to look at him, eyes hooded and heavy with exhaustion.

"Seems that way sometimes," he shrugged. "Something always comes up."

"Well, we'll deal with it then," she decided, snuggling back into him with a sigh. He chuckled softly, kissing her forehead.

"Yeah I guess. But now that Trey's gone, and Marissa and Hunter seem to have finally _gotten_ it, I'm just wondering what else is coming our way." He could only imagine what worse things awaited them; he _was_ an Atwood after all. A big black cloud of doom and despair followed him wherever he went. Surely that would take over the little ball of sunshine currently curled up in his arms?

"But we always manage," she mused, placing a kiss on his chest. "I mean, at least this time we didn't break up."

"I know. It's like a record for us."

* * *

She was woken out of her nice dream – involving Ryan, chocolate sauce, and a lot of whipped cream – by his cell phone blaring loudly from the bedside table. She groaned in frustration, trying to hit his arm, but missing and hitting air instead. He grunted, leaning over her to grab the phone, and muttered some curse when he looked at the display.

"Who is it?" she slurred, still half asleep. The Ryan in her head licked chocolate sauce off her stomach, and the Ryan lying next to her glared at his phone.

"Seth." It wasn't an answer to her question, just the way he answered the phone. She rolled her eyes – Seth was worse than Kirsten at the whole 'inappropriate timing' thing. Snuggling into his side as he lay on his back, one arm curled around her, the other holding the cell to his ear, she tried to slip back into her fantasy land of Ryan and sugar. She almost succeeded, too, until she felt his entire body tense. "Yeah," she heard him mutter into the phone. "We'll be right there."

"Ryan?" It was half a question, half a protest as he flung the covers off their bodies, getting out of bed and gathering up clothes.

"We have to go," he told her, handing her the pile he had gathered for her before starting to dress himself. She frowned, getting up slowly.

"What's wrong?"

He pulled his wife beater over his head, letting out a little sigh. "Caleb had a heart attack." She gasped, eyes going wide. "He's dead."

* * *

The funeral was horrible. Sure, he didn't _like_ the guy, but he didn't want him _dead_. He and Seth sat in the pews behind Kirsten and Hailey, listening to Sandy's speech; listening to Sandy try and joke his way through this, because his wife was sitting in the first row with sunglasses on and face unflinching. He helped carry the body out. It was heavy. Even with all of them carrying it, it was heavy.

He never realized how heavy a dead body in a box could be.

* * *

She and Summer loaded the plate with food, and Summer took a deep breath before walking over. "Hey Mrs. Cohen," she greeted cheerfully, "I thought you might be hungry." She extended the plate towards the woman, who muttered some rejection, pushing the plate away. "Well," Summer continued, "if my stepmother taught me anything, it's to never drink on an empty stomach." She tried to laugh, but Kirsten was stone-faced and dazed.

"Thanks for the tip."

Taylor had never heard Kirsten be that… mean. It wasn't an outright mean, because the words had been polite; it was the coldness, the empty uncaring feeling behind them that had her flashing back to her mother.

"Well that went well," Summer threw the plate back onto the buffet table, not caring that it all went flying.

"What do we do?" Taylor whispered, throwing a look over her shoulder as Kirsten stumbled a little. "We have to do something."

"Hey Summer," Sandy came over, touching the girl on the shoulder briefly. "Could you do me a favor? This thing is gonna be going on for a little while. I know Seth's been through a lot in the past couple of days, and it might be a great idea if you could get him out of the house for a while."

"Yeah, sure," Summer whispered, trying not to look at Kirsten. Sandy hesitated for a moment before turning to Taylor.

"I know he wasn't fond of Caleb, but I think Ryan could… use the fresh air too," he suggested, and she nodded, eyes already scanning the room for his shaggy blonde head. The man walked away, eyes on his wife, who was now clutching a bottle of alcohol openly.

"Yeah, that sounds good," she heard Summer mutter, grabbing her hand. "I don't think I want to be here when this goes down." Taylor nodded along. Summer would know – she'd dealt with drunken blowouts enough thanks to the step-monster.

They found Seth first, the boy looking confused and a little dazed, but Summer managed to get him outside. Ryan was a little harder to find, mostly because he was hiding in a corner, trying to stay out of the way – she assumed – because he felt like he really wasn't part of the family. Which was complete bullshit, but she didn't feel like explaining that just then. She found him in the corner, and he looked at her, and she looked at him, and they didn't say anything, because what were they supposed to say? He was observant; he'd seen the way Kirsten was acting. She just reached out her hand, and he took it, and she pulled him to the front door where Seth and Summer were waiting.

* * *

They ended up on the beach, staring off into the dark waves as they crashed on the shore.

How had he not seen it coming? He should've. He'd grown up all his life around alcoholics, and he'd never even seen the signs in Kirsten. Maybe it was because he wanted Kirsten to be perfect; to not be like his own mother. Or maybe it was just because Kirsten grew up here, in Newport, where people were fake and they hid their problems surprisingly well.

And it was real, because Seth had found some rehab brochure in Sandy's office, and it obviously wasn't for him. It was for Kirsten. His throat closed up when he thought about it; about what they were supposed to do.

Maybe she wasn't an alcoholic. Maybe Sandy would fix everything. Maybe his life wouldn't always end in misery.

But maybe it would.

He felt Taylor lean against him, but she didn't say anything. Neither did Seth, and he knew it was a stretch for both of them. Well, maybe not so much for Taylor, because she was usually good at reading situations and knowing when to really shut the hell up. And he knew that Seth was grieving. He'd been close with Caleb, and even _he_ wasn't so oblivious that he didn't see what was going on with Kirsten now.

He looked back out into the ocean and wrapped his arm around Taylor's waist, needing – if only for this brief moment in time – to feel something warm and full of life close to him. Newport, Taylor, the Cohens; they'd given him hope, and he'd hold onto that as long as he could. So even though he was waiting for that inevitable phone call from Sandy telling them the news, he'd hold on to the hope that this was just a onetime deal for Kirsten - that she'd be ok.

That _he'd_ be ok.

_

* * *

_

Review.


End file.
